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Tensor-valued diffusion MRI detects brain microstructural abnormalities in HIV infected individuals with cognitive
Md Nasir Uddin1,2,3, Meera V Singh4,5, Abrar Faiyaz4
1Department of Neurology, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA. nasir_uddin@urmc.rochester.edu.
Scientific Reports
|November 21, 2024
Summary
New MRI techniques show subtle brain changes in people with HIV (PWH). Tensor-valued diffusion encoding is more sensitive than DTI in detecting HIV-associated brain injury and correlates with cognitive function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Infectious Diseases
- Neurology
Background:
- HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment affects approximately 40% of people with HIV (PWH).
- While combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has improved outcomes, subtle, ongoing brain microstructural changes may persist.
- Conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may not fully capture these subtle changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if tensor-valued diffusion encoding metrics are more sensitive than DTI in detecting HIV-associated brain microstructural injury.
- To assess the association of tensor-valued metrics with blood markers of neuronal/glial injury (NFL, GFAP) and cognitive performance.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional MRI study at 3T involving 24 PWH and 31 healthy controls.
- Utilized tensor-valued diffusion encoding and conventional DTI metrics.
- Correlated imaging metrics with neurofilament light chain (NFL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and cognitive test scores.
Main Results:
- Tensor-valued diffusion encoding metrics showed significant variations across white matter regions in PWH.
- These metrics were associated with cognitive performance and blood markers NFL and GFAP.
- A significant interaction between HIV status and imaging metrics impacted cognitive scores, with DTI metrics showing weaker associations than tensor-valued metrics.
Conclusions:
- Tensor-valued diffusion encoding offers enhanced sensitivity for detecting subtle axonal injury in HIV infection compared to DTI.
- These findings highlight the potential of advanced diffusion MRI techniques for monitoring HIV-associated neuroinflammation.
- Longitudinal studies are recommended to further evaluate the responsiveness of tensor-valued diffusion metrics.
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